From: BoiseBear@aol.com
Date: Sat, 09 Jul 94 10:26:56 EDT
Reprinted from the [Boise] Idaho Statesman,
Saturday, July 9, 1994
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"Our View" Editorial
FUTURE OF IDAHO DEMANDS
A 'NO' VOTE ON PROPOSITION 1
With the anti-gay initiative headed for the Nov. 8 ballot
as Proposition 1, Idaho needs strong and courageous
leadership to persuade votes that approval of this
divisive measure can bring only regrettable conse-
quences. Fence-straddling will not do. This critical
point demands a stand.
Among those who understand that is Bishop Tod
Brown, head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise,
who has thrown the moral authority of the church
against the initiative. He said this week that the
initiative "would contribute to attitudes of intolerance
and hostility in Idaho directed at homosexual citizens
and is potentially discriminatory." Similar reasoning
has induced U.S. Reps. Larry LaRocco and Mike
Crapo and U.S. Sen. Dirk Kempthorne to oppose the
ill-conceived initiative.
But where does Idaho's other U.S. senator, Larry Craig,
stand? A Craig spokesman promised an announcement
soon, but declined to say what that will be. Since the
July Fourth holiday, Craig has been touring the state.
This would be an excellent opportunity for him to announce
that he is joining his fellow congressional members to
oppose the Idaho Citizens Alliance initiative.
The need for leadership does not stop with Craig. From
the Statehouse to the courthouses to the city halls
across Idaho, the issue demands that political leaders
speak out against the initiative. Moreover, business
and civic leaders can take a stand against this destructive
measure. Their leadership can keep Idaho moving
ahead toward tolerance of others rather than backward
toward fear of those who are different.
Accroding to supporters, the initiative is intended to
prevent the creation of special rights and protections for
gays and lesbians beyond those guaranteed to all
citizens and to prevent spending public money
to express approval of homosexuality. But no such
special rights or protections now exist. This proposed
solution to a non-existent problem would create even
more serious difficulties for individual liberties in Idaho.
The initiative seeks to set one group of Idahoans apart
and to make them targets of scorn and ridicule. It attempts
to ensure that they cannot seek the same redress of their
grievances that all other Americans can. In addition,
the initiative's success would open the state to all manner
of lawsuits. Idaho would become a national battleground
on homosexual rights, eating up in court costs tremendous
amounts of taxpayer' funds needed for more pressing
concerns.
The future of Idaho is at stake. Either we are an insecure
people afraid of "the other," or we are a people big-hearted
enough to accept differences. Which Idaho would you
prefer to live in? Idahoans can make the right choice by
voting "No" on Proposition 1 on the Nov. 8 ballot.
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Submitted by Robert Shaffer
BoiseBear@aol.com
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